TODD

Less than a year after the magnificent "A wizard, A true star", Todd Rundgren returned with his second double LP release. If "Wizard.." had shown that Todd was looking to push the boundaries, including delving deeply into prog territories, "Todd" takes a further giant step along that path. Here we have a diverse selection of experimental music, ballads, melodic pop and a host of other style all blended into a fine package. While the album is not as crammed as previous offerings, the side lengths varying between 14 and 18 minutes, there is still well over an hour of top quality material. On the downside, the rather uninspired mug-shot on the sleeve must have put at least a few people off investigating!

The brief instrumental "How about a little fanfare" gets us off to the perfect start, with a burst of distorted speaking and off beat music. "I think you know" offers us a deceptively tasteful light ballad before merging into the experimental "The spark of life". By this time, Todd has discovered the full potential of the synthesiser which he proceeds to exploit on this appealing instrumental. The magnificent 2 minutes of "An Elpee's Worth of Toons" would have fitted right in on side one of "A wizard.." as would the equally brief "A dream goes on forever" which follows. In one of his more bizarre twists, Todd closes the first side with "Lord Chancellor's Nightmare", an odd cover of a Gilbert & Sullivan song from their opera "Lolanthe".

Side two of the album, which is the shortest at just over 14 minutes, contains just three tracks. "Drunken blue rooster" is an onomatopoeic instrumental along the lines of the Stranglers "Waltzinblack". "The last ride" reverts to the more traditional ballad style of Todd, his vocals being passionate against a sympathetic instrumental arrangement including some fine soprano sax. "Everybody's going to heaven/King Kong reggae" begins with a frantic drum laden instrumental burst with Todd eventually adding distorted vocals on top of the already saturated sound.

On side three, Todd moves into heavier areas with the distorted "No 1. Lowest Common Denominator". The song offers an indication of the way he would be thinking for the first Utopia album with screaming lead guitars against a pounding rhythm overlaid with phasing. "Useless begging" is based around a more orthodox pop ballad, but features a fun middle instrumental section. The track segues into the short instrumental "Sidewalk Café" which offers Rundgren the chance to play with his new toy again (i.e. the synthesiser). This in turn becomes the even shorter "Izzat Love?" a quick burst of commercial power pop. The side closes with "Heavy Metal Kids" where Todd gets even heavier hinting at the new wave style he would adopt on later Utopia releases.

"In and out the Chakras we go" which opens the final side, is an odd, unstructured instrumental which gives hints at the way he would go on the second side of his next album "Initiation". "Don't you ever learn" offers the perfect counterpoint, being a delicate piano/organ ballad. The album closes with one of Todd's superlative anthems, "Sons of 1984". The song, which was recorded live in New York and enhanced with overdubs from a San Francisco gig, includes the massed crowd singing on the choruses.

In all, another fine album from this true star. Whether this or the previous album is the more progressive is academic, as both find Todd at his experimental best.

The packaging included a fold out (6 times LP size) lyric sheet on the other side of which was a picture of Todd made up of the names of fans who had returned a postcard contained in the "Wizard" album.

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